GG ethics / ecology

I'm new but couldn't find any existing messages on this subject before...Are there any guidelines on what to plant or places to steer clear of?

I really like the idea of putting in some effort to sort out my local environment myself rather than relying on faceless government authorities to do it (belatedly & badly - if at all!). I wouldn't want to inadvertently create problems though. Think how it would be if it was a GG years ago who thought that it would be a good idea to brighten up some part of Britain with a little Japanese knotweed or similar? I'm guessing one should aim to use native wild flowers only... are there any guidelines on this?

Also, how do you know that the place that you've identified as as spot you'd like to garden isn't someone else's idea of a wild garden / nature reserve - surely it could be quite difficult to tell the difference out of season? You can't exactly ask the authorities as its going to identify you as prime suspect if the ground is disturbed & rather negates the point of acting under the cover of darkness?

Think I might just go for a low level hit of dispersing some wild flower seeds into some local wasteground for my first attempt.

good first post. My thoughts exactly! Although I have planted out bluebells without realising if they are spanish ones or english ones. I didn't care and/or know at the time. They've just gone over, so I cannot check absolutely. To be honest I looked at a website to differentiate the two and still found it hard.

My initial policy was to plant what I considered to be native selfseeding plants, or common garden plants. Self seeders were Honesty Nigella Hollyhock etc, common plants were wallflowers, crocosmia, gladioli etc.

In the last few days I've rehoused a lupin and several bulbs of unknown flowers which had been abandoned. I will have to wait till next spring to see what I've got!

In another thread (or maybe a PM to someone)I mentioned that I reported several locations of Japanese Knotweed to the Nat'l Parks and Wildlife Services here. Unfortunately there is neither the budget or political will to do anything about it. Just today I noticed another infestation, in someone's front garden, right beneath their front window!! Imagine the damage it's doing to the structure of the house!

I'd like to hear others' opinions on the ethical guidelines of Guerilla Gardening...

I joined GG last year (but finally registered this March!), and having been on and initiated some digs, notice that generally speaking our activities seem to elicit no complaints.

Many interested people passing by come up for a chat if they're on foot, and bus and taxi drivers sometimes yell out encouragement. You do get people who are bit worse for wear but they're harmless.

By and large we're left alone, though that might just be the famous British Reserve.

The police rarely venture out of their cars in London, and in any case have other things to worry about than a bunch of sober adults calmly weeding a traffic island!

At a recent dig in Vauxhall (urban lively part of South London) we were approached by the very council workers whose job it should be to tend the totally neglected planters we were cultivating. After the ice was broken they were supportive and cheekily asked if we took requests!

Considering the fact we're spending our own time and money volunteering to make nasty bits of the world look better, the people who live and work adjacent to the sites we work on are usually delighted and generous with food & drinks and water the plants after we've left.

As it stands there is no law in this country about gardening council-owned land, as the land is in a public place, accessible by the public 24/7 and clearly was intended to be used/enjoyed by the public. Stands to reason that if the public want to publically garden a public space, only the most churlish of petty officials would even try to prevent such philanthropy.